Tuesday, March 17, 2009

I haven't seen this in person yet -- it will be released in late April -- but the more I look at this, the more I like it.

Clearly the eyes belong to the same person, but the way they're offset suggests that something odd's going on, which is in fact the case: psychiatrist Leo Liebenstein believes that his wife has been replaced by a doppelganger. This psychic disruption is not the only thing hinted at by the intersecting concentric circles; there's a meteorologist who figures in the plot (as the title suggests).

Henry Sene Yee was nice enough to provide the design credit for this, but I forgot to ask him if those circles are die-cuts. If so, I'm dying to know what's underneath.

UPDATE: Since it's been mentioned several times in the comments, here's the US hardcover (first image below; design and illustration by Billie Jean). And someone sent in the Canadian cover as well (second image):

The first cover made me think immediately of quantum entanglement, which, even if unintentional, fits with the story (two objects, identical but opposite, forever intertwined with one another). I like the US hardcover, but honestly it would make much more sense on Pynchon's Crying of Lot 49, and not just because of the number.